I’m not sure if you’re the person for this assignment (maybe a beat reporter would be more appropriate) but please, have the Times do a public service and clarify what the various law enforcement agencies plan to do with this new law.

I am a responsible dog owner and I know perfectly well under which conditions it is safe to leave my dog in the car and when it is not. Please find out if they are going to enforce a “zero tolerance” policy or not.

I am a single person, and with my full-time job, I have precious little time with my beloved doggie and am most annoyed that the state is trying to take away even more of my quality time. I am also really tired of all the nervous Nellies assuming that, just because I leave my dog in the car, in the shade, in 50-degree weather, with the windows open, that I’m an unfit mother.

Kristen Nickel,

Walnut Creek

Dear Kristen:

I can’t speak for the local law-enforcement agencies, but I suspect they will enforce this law as they have in the past — if an animal is in danger, or suffering.

Basically, the law says: You can’t leave animals unattended in a car “under conditions that endanger the health or well-being of an animal due to heat, cold, lack of adequate ventilation, or lack of food or water, or other circumstances that could reasonably be expected to cause suffering, disability, or death to the animal.”

I think “suffering” is the operative word here. If your dog is left alone in your car and is found to be suffering or in danger, then you are violating the law and can be punished for it. If the dog is not suffering or in danger, then there’s no problem.

But I have to tell you that “knowing perfectly well under which conditions it is safe” to leave your dog in the car doesn’t always keep a pet from getting into trouble. Dogs have become overheated and have died while sitting in a car with the windows cracked in the middle of December.

Every year, animals die and children die when left alone in cars. That’s tragic and all the more so because it didn’t need to happen. This law will help save animal lives by allowing animal control officers to immediately break into cars and rescue animals in trouble, without having to call the police and wait for precious minutes for someone else to come and do the deed.

Bottom line: It is not a good idea to leave pets and children unattended in cars.

Dear Gary:

I love it when non-birders become aware of birds … or any observance of nature!

The car pool that pondered why birds gather and sit on lines was a good example (Jan. 5 column: “Birds on a wire: What’s the attraction for flock?”).

As you know, there are tremendous advantages to this flocking behavior. There are more bird eyes out looking for predators, and if one bird finds food they all benefit, just to name a few.

Keep on informing and entertaining all of us!

Meg Pauletich, Orinda

Dear Meg:

Basically, if a few eyes are good, then more eyes are even better. I suspect it’s the same with the collective intelligence.

HOMES NEEDED

Somebody’s mom just passed away and he needs a home for her 11-year-old beagle with a thyroid problem.

A lady needs a home for Oreo, her small 4-year-old black and white cat. She’s moving out of state and her son, who’s allergic to cats, will live with her. Oreo comes with a carpeted cat tower, covered litter box and large crate.